DENVER – He had already accomplished so much in one evening. Vernon Wells hit a two-run homer. He notched three hits. He scored the go-ahead run. Then, as the Yankees wrapped up a most unorthodox 3-2 victory over the Rockies, manager Joe Girardi asked Wells to do something he had never done before in a game at any level of baseball: Play third base.

Wells carted his outfield glove with him to the hot corner. As Mariano Rivera pounded the zone with cutters, Wells fielded a chopper off the bat of Colorado slugger Carlos Gonzalez and flung it to first for an out. He looked smooth despite the circumstances. He would refer to this sequence as “one of the cooler moments of my career.”

“If you’re going to be over there, and you have Mariano on the mound, it’d be fun to get a ball,” Wells said. “And I got a fairly easy one, with a chance to make a play.”

The victory came on a night when Girardi emptied his bag of tricks in an effort to wring value out of his decimated roster. He batted starting pitcher David Phelps eighth. He used every available position player. He defended his managerial maneuvering after the game.

Inside his office, Girardi pantomimed throwing his hand against the concrete behind him. “It’s not like I’m just going like this against the wall,” Girardi said. “It’s thought-out.”

Yet there is also desperation here. Girardi’s lineup has sustained multiple losses this season. They started the season without shortstop Derek Jeter (broken ankle), outfielder Curtis Granderson (broken forearm) and first baseman Mark Teixeira (wrist strain). Since then they’ve lost infielder Kevin Youkilis (lower lumbar strain) and catcher Francisco Cervelli (broken hand). The team is playing this series without shortstop Eduardo Nunez, who is sidelined with ribcage tightness.

Without Nunez, the team lacks a backup infielder. As Girardi pondered his options, he recalled watching Wells field grounders at third during an off-day at Yankee Stadium last month. Wells does this to “keep my hands nice and loose” in the field. For Girardi, a thought percolated. Before Wednesday’s game, he warned Wells what might occur.

The teams traded two-run homers in the early going. Wells swatted a shot in the first. Todd Helton evened the game with a blast of his own in the second. Otherwise Phelps blanked Colorado for six innings. “That’s probably the best I’ve felt in a while,” he said.

Wells sparked the club with an infield single off Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt. He lucked into a stolen base when shortstop Jonathan Herrera dropped a throw at second. Then he idled on the bases for a lengthy period of time, as the Yankees searched for a critical hit.

First, Lyle Overbay walked. So did Jayson Nix. Girardi opted to pinch-hit Travis Hafner for slumping third baseman Chris Nelson. “As soon as I saw Travis come up, I knew I was going to end up playing third,” Wells said with a smile. “The panic set in immediately.”

But Hafner struck out. With two outs, the pitcher’s spot in the order was up – the No. 8 spot. Girardi inserted Boesch. He hit a grounder to third base, where rookie Nolan Arenado laid out to scoop the ball. He double-clutched before he threw, a pause lengthy enough for Boesch to collect an infield hit. “Sometimes my speed is kind of underestimated, as a bigger guy,” Boesch said.

Wells felt euphoric as he crossed the plate, he said. Then he recalled his assignment. He moved to the outfield when he was 12 years old, he said. He played there for Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas – until the classroom intervened.

“Report cards came out, and our entire infield failed,” Wells said. “So I had to go play shortstop. That’s a true story.”

As Wells stood in the infield, infield coach Mick Kelleher instructed him to move up. “I’m like, what? I’ve got to play in? This is already ‘in,’” he said. But he fielded the position without incident. It was part of a night he said he was unlikely to forget.